Skill development training to 1 crore youths by 2020: Bihar CM Nitish

Patna: Stressing the need for making youths employable, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the state government will provide skill development training to one crore people in the state by 2020.

"The state government will provide skill development training to one crore youths of the state by 2020 in order to make them self-dependent. Our youths are meritorious and they just need opportunity ... I am quite confident we will achieve our goals," Kumar said.

He was addressing a function organised by Bihar Skill Development Mission (BSDM) on the occasion of 'World Youth Skill Development Day' here.

Skill development figures in Bihar government's ambitious 'seven resolves' which talks about overall development of the state and its people.

State's labour resources department along with BSDM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd (MKCL), Kumar said, adding MKCL would be the state government's knowledge partner in the field of skill development.

The MoU, which was signed by state's Labour Resources Department's Principal Secretary Dipak Kumar Singh and MKCL's Chief Executive Office Vivek Sawant, aims to carry out skill development of the youths of Bihar.

"There is a need for good and quality institutions and centres for carrying out skill development in the state so that youths get proper training and not certificates in the name of training," Kumar said.

The Chief Minister added that the state government has focused its attention towards skill development of youths under its 'seven resolves'.

Youths in the age group of 20 to 25 years searching for jobs would be given skill development training and allowances. To provide skill development, the government plans to set up 'Skill Development Centres' in every block, besides imparting the youths with communication skill, soft skill and IT training.

The state government has already taken a decision to open Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) at sub-divisional level, besides opening ITIs in every district for women, Kumar said. Engineering colleges would be opened in every district and nursing colleges would be opened in all medical colleges of the state, he said.

Prominent among those present on the occasion were state water resources minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Labour Resources Minister Vijay Prakash and education minister Ashok Choudhary.